Mineral separator



Dec. 15, 1942. MAU 2,305,020

MINERAL SEPARATOR Filed Sept. 14, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A TORNEK Patented Dec. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MINERAL SEPARATOR Hugo A. Man, Milwaukee, Wis. Application September 14, 1942, Serial No. 458,308

4 Claims. (Cl. 209-209) This invention relates to a mineral separator. effect relatively sharp separation of the different In certain locations ore bearing or mineral materials. bearing material is found which is of such a low An embodiment of the invention is shown in grade, that is, contains such 'a low percent of the accompanying drawings; in which: the mineral sought, that it does not pay to op-' Figure 1 is a vertical elevation, partly in secerate on this material with the ordinary appation with parts broken away, showing the minratus and processes usually employed. The diflieral separator.

culty is further enhanced by the fact that fre- Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-4 quently there is neither water available nor elecof Figure 1. I tric or other power and yet there is a quantity Figure 3 is a view looking down on the top of valuable material that could be obtained from po n o e Structure S own in u e such locations. In fact, in certain of these loca- Fi 4 i a Sectional view on the line l4 of tions all water used has to be hauled or otherwise gu e 1.

transported and there is great difilculty in avoid- 8 5 is e t n View O t e line 5-5 of ing loss of water in the normal heretofore known Figure l.

operations, Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line G-G This invention is designed to provide a mineral of Figure separator which can be employed under the Figure i5 V w. p y broken a y, 0f the above outlined severe condm0ns lifting rod by means of which the timing weight Further objects of this invention are to prom be raisedvide a separator which uses the water over and Referring to the drawings, it will be Seen that over again and thereby conserves the water, m the device comprises a vertical chamber I which which in the normal operation of the apparatus 5: siigiiiiiy conical if desired. i which may there is substantially no loss of water, in which 2 i zfi fi 'gfi g ggfigfigg g 2 1; collection chambers are provided-one for the f mineral or material to be obtained and the other igiggg gfi gg g 5 1 ;1 2:122 2,2 for the undesirable or waste material, such chambers being freely removable from the apgg i g g g gg h fifi g i igfi g gg ifi zz Paratus without loss of water size to which it is attached by means of spacing Further Objects are to provide a mineral blocks 2'. The hopper 2 is normally closed by i which is not Power Operated but wiicii means of a pair of horizontally slidable discharge is mamiiiiiy Operated which eiiicieiitiy hamiies membersor artitions d whose inner ends norlow grade material, which is freely portable, and n rest a, substantianv Vmshaped transwhich may be easily cleaned without waste of verse bar 5 and which'are aaapted to be t Watermatically slid outwardly in opposite directions In greater detail objects of this invention are to discharge n of th t ri l d po ited in the to provide a mineral separator which depends for hopper 2 t a given t t, a will be explained, its operation upon the relative time required for hereinafter, difierent materials substantially freely falling 40 The chamber 5 t t t a separation Chaim through a vertical distance in wat r to p ov r her for the material as will appear hereinafter. a given distance and to provide automatic means A t t d, it may b of any desired ross-seefo ins n e discharge of material which retional contour and is preferably slightly tapered quires a lesser time for its travel from material as shown T form h w is b ta ti ll Which r q ir a greater time for its travel tangular in contour as will appear as the dethrough the same vertical distance in water or scription proceeds,

other liquid. The lower end of the separation chamber 1 Further ob ects are to provide a mineral sepopens into an intermediate chamber 6 and it is r to w h y be p a e y unskilled D- preferable to have the lower end of the separaerators. which is wh y auto at in its operation chamber i project downwardly into and betion, which may be adjusted to separate different low the upper plate I of the interm diate chamtypes of materials, and which automatically adbet 6. Two discharge conduits open outwardly i'u i e f f r any h nge in he pe ific r vi y in divergent directions from the lower portion of water which mayoccur as the water picks up of the intermediate chamber 6, the larger of soluble material during the normal course of the which is indicated by the reference character 8 operation of the apparatus. and the smaller of which by the reference char- Further objects are to provide a mineral sepacter 9. A swinging funnel-shaped, downwardly arator which is rugged, which is ,freely portable, converging diverting member I0 is rigidly carwhich cannot be easily damaged, and which does ried by a revolubly mounted rock shaft II which not require delicate adjustments though it will projects outwardly from the intermediate chamher 8, as shown most clearly in Figure 4. The rock shaft II is provided with anarm l2, see Figures 4 and 6, to which a spring I3 is attached, thereby biasing the diverting member i towards the larger discharge conduit 8. The diverting member I0 is normally held in the position shown in Figure 1 so as to initially discharge into the smaller diverting conduit 9, though it is spring biased towards the other diverting conduit 8 as previously described. The diverting member I0 is normally held latched in the position shown in Figure 1 by means hereinafter described.

The diverting conduits or chutes 8 and 9 open at their respective ends into relatively larger and smaller collecting chambers indicated generally by the reference characters A and B. These collecting chambers A and B are provided with top plates l4 and i respectively. The bottom portion of the collecting chamber A is a relatively large vessel It; which may be bolted as indicated at 11 or otherwise removably secured to the top plate into a timing weight indicated generally at C.

I4, a suitable gasket being provided if desired.

The collecting chamber B may comprise a glass vessel l8 which is detachably attached to the cover plate l5. For example, it may be a glass vessel l8 which is removably attached by screw thread means to the cover plate I5 as shown in Figure 1.

Means are provided for closing the lower openings of the diverting conduits 8 and 9 when desired. For example, the conduit 8 may have its lower end closed by means of a valve member l9 which may be of suitable composition, of rubber or other material. This valve member is carried by a threaded stem 20 provided with an upper manipulating hand wheel 2i, whereby the valve may be moved into open or closed position, a suitable packing gland being provided as indicated.

The lower end of the diverting conduit 9 may be closed by means of a similar valve 22 which also is carried by a screw threaded stem 23 provided with a manipulating hand wheel 24 at its upper end, a suitable packing gland being provided as indicated. Preferably the valves l9 and 22 remain open throughout the successive operations of the apparatus. They are only closed when it is desired to remove the collecting chambers A and B.

Any suitable means may be provided for simultaneously opening the discharge members 4 at the upper end of the separating chamber l and at the base of the hopper 2. In the form of the invention shown means are provided for simultaneously and automatically sliding these members 4 outwardly in opposite directions so as to discharge all of the material in the hopper substantially instantaneously. This means may comprise two pairs of levers 25 and 25, each pair being rigidly carried respectively by the rock shafts 21 and 28. The lower ends of the levers 25 and 26 are joined by small links, as indicated at 29 and 30, to the members 4.

At the side of the apparatus the two rock shafts 21 and 28 rigidly carry levers 3| and 32 whose ends are adjacent and slotted and receive a pin 33 carried by a downwardly urged slide 34. suitably guided in the track like member 35 and spring urged downwardly by means of the spring 36. Normally the slide 34 is held latched in its upper position by means of the latch 31, see Figure 2, which is urged towards latching position by the spring 38 and which is adapted to be tripped by the handle 39.

It is to be noted from reference to Figures 1 and 3 that the rock shaft 21 is provided with a This timing weight C may be elongated and may be provided with alower rounded end. After the proper adjustment between the spacing of the timing weight C and the enlarged head 42 of the threaded screw rod 43 has been obtained by screwing the rod into or out of the timing weight, a lock nut indicated at 44 is tightened to thus lock the rod and the timing weight in their adjusted position. The timing weight C may be composed of a single unit if so desired or may be made of a group of units consisting of a lower main unit 45 and additional disk like units 45. It also may be made hollow or solid, depending upon the total weight desired. Obviously by adding disks 45 of heavy material, such as lead or iron, the total weight may be increased materially, or if desired, light metal disks or even composition non-absorbent disks could be added to increase the size of the timing weight C without materially increasing its total weight. Thus the specific gravity of the assembly constituting the timing weight C may be adjusted as desired, depending on the type of material to be separated as will appear as the description proceeds.

A vertical timing chamber or guide chamber 41 is provided and is connected at its upper and lower ends by means of relatively large pipes 48 and 49 respectively with the chambers 3 and 6. It is intended that the device be filled with water or other suitable liquid, water being preferred, to approximately the level indicated by the dotted line 50. Thus the timing weight C and the mater al both fall downwardly when released through the water to adjacent the lower end of the separating chamber i and the timing chamber 41.

The diverting member i 0 is connected by means of a link 52, see'Figure 1, with a guide 53 which rides on the bottom of the pipe 49. It is normally held latched by means of the detent 54. This detent is provided with an arm 55 extending transversely adjacent the lower portion of the timing chamber or guide chamber 41 and the arm 55 is s ring pressed upwardly by means of the spring 55.

The lower portion of the timing chamber is closed by a removable plate 51 which is removably bolted to the lower end of such chamber, a suitable gasket being preferably interposed.

The timing and guide chamber 41 is provided with guide means of any suitable type for guiding the timing weight C. Preferably the guide chamber is provided with a pair of inwardly directed opposed ribs or guide strips 58 and the timing weight C is provided with opposed grooves to loosely and freely receive the guide strips 58.

The spring 56 serves an additional function of cushioning the timing weight when it strikes the trip arm 55 and releases the trip pawl 54 so that the trip member composed of the arm 55 and the pawl 54 will release the diverting member ID. which under the influence of the spring I3, see Figure 6, will rock from the full line position over the small diverting conduit 9 to the dotted line position over the large diverting conduit 8, it being noted that the conduits join each other asoaoao 3 and form a relatively sharp V-shaped dividing portion 59, see Figure 1.

Manual means are provided for resetting the diverting member ID. This manual means may consist of a manually operable lever 60, see Figure 6, rigid with the rock shaft ll so that the diverting member I may be manually rocked from its dotted line position in Figure 1 to its full line position, at which time the pawl 54 will engage the guide member 53 and thus temporarily latch the diverting member ID in its full line position.

In order to raise the timing weight C from its lowermost position to its uppermost position, any suitable instrument may be employed. For example as shown 'in Figure 7, a rod 6| may be provided with a plurality of spring clips 82 at its lower end which are equipped with cam like portions 63 and shouldered portions 64 so that the cam like portions will cause the spring clips 62 to diverge when the retracting or lifting rod 6| is forced downwardly through the timing chamber 41 into engagement with the enlarged head 42 of the timing weight C.

Thereafter the shouldered portion 64 will engage beneath such head and thus the timing weight C may be raised to its elevated position so that it may be again-latched by the latch member 4|, the latch member 4| being, as stated,

either manually pushed to the right or else spring pressed to the right. It is sometimes desirable to have the latch member 4| to the right so that it can remain inits withdrawn position to give additional freedom in inserting the retracting rod 6| down into the timing chamber 41.

In order to explain the theory of operation of this apparatus, assume for an instant that material of the same specific gravity as that of the timing weight C is released at the upper end of the separating chamber I at the same instant that the timing weight C is released. Under these conditions the timing weight and the material will both travel substantially the same vertical distance downwardly in the same interval of time. If the released material is of less specific gravity than that of the timing weight C, it is apparent that the timing weight will arrive at its tripping position, tripping the diverting member ID prior to the arrival of the material at the diverting member l0 so that the material will be discharged into the conduit or into the collecting chamber A. On the other hand, if the material released at the same time as the timing weight is of greater specific gravity than that of the timing'weight C, it is a parent that such material will arrive at the diverting member I 0 and be diverted into the conduit or chute 9 prior to the time that the timing weight C trips such diverting member. 1 1

This principle is employed in separating materials of different specific the adjustment of the apparatus is such that the timing weight arrives at its diverting member tripping position after the gold arrives at the With this apparatus it has been found that separations can be made between a vast number 25 tially instantly separate manually pushed oi diflerent minerals due to the fact that the difl'erent minerals have different specific gravities and the apparatus may be adjusted to effect separation between any particular group of materials which have diiferent specific gravities and consequently which have different intervals of time required for their transit downwardly through the column of water in the separating chamber I to the diverting member "I.

1 One of the ways in which this adjustment can slightly lower point as required.

Assuming the parts are in position for operation, a load of material is deposited in the hopper 2 and rests on the bottom slides 4. The operator then trips the latch 31, thus releasing the slide 2. The slide 3t descends and causes the pairs of levers and 26 to substanthe plates or material releasing members 4 so that the material in the hopper 2 is discharged substantially instantaneously into the upper end of the separating cham her I. At the same instant the latch 4| is with- 30 drawn from beneath the head 42 and releases the timing weight C which descends. desired to be recovered arrives at the diverting member Ill before the timing weight C trips such diverting member and downwardly into the collecting chamber B.

Thereafter the timing weight trips the diverting member I 0 prior to the arrival thereat by the.

tion and thereafter causes the latch 4| to engage beneath the enlarged head 42. The operator then, through the medium of the lever see Figures 4 and 6, rocks the shaft H to thereby rock verting member in the full line position of Figure 55 1. The apparatus is now ready for a subsequent When it is desired to empty either of the chambers A or B, the

or 22 is again-opened. I Substantially no water is lost even when it is necessary to empty the chambers A and B. On

the other hand, through a long series of successive operations it is not necessary to empty either chamber as they may be made as large as need be and therefore during these successive operations there isno water lost whatsoever.

It is to be noted that when the apparatus is to be thoroughly cleaned out, the water is poured out of the apparatus and the chambers l6 and i8 are removed and their valves left open and the plate 51 is removed from the lower end of the timing chamber i. This enables any collected material deposited anywhere in the apparatus to be readily removed.

Thus it is possible to keep the apparatus in a very clean condition without danger of ultimate clogging.

It sometimes happens that in separating materials some portions of which are relatively flat, that the flat portions do not always travel downwardly in a straight line but tend to travel back and forth in a zigzag line. In order to avoid this result, vertical baflles I, see Figure i, may be employed and extend from one side of the apparatus to the other so that when a piece of sheet material tends to travel in a zigzag path, it immedi ately strikes one of the bafiles or the outer wall and is turned vertically so that it will travel downwardly.

The particular material chosen as an illustration, namely, gold and sand, is not to be considered as limiting for the apparatus, as stated, can be successfully used to efiect separation between many widely different materials.

The apparatus is particularly useful where water is very scarce and where the material is of a relatively poor grade, that is to say, a small percent of the total material being that which it is desired to recover or separate.

The device is manually operable throughout; and does not require any fragile or delicate parts.

i It is easily transported. The device may be provided with any suitable types of supports in order terval of time, diverting means for selecting the receiving means into which the descending material may pass, and automatic timing means including a timing weight arranged to descend through the same liquid contained in said separating chamber, the operation of said diverting means being controlled by said automatic timing means.

2. A mineral separator comprising a separating chamber and a timing chamber adapted to contain a liquid, a hopper for the reception of material to be separated adjacent the upper end of said separating chamber, a timing weight normally held adjacent the upper end of said timing to hold it in its upright position. Such supports have been omitted from the drawings as they him no part of the essential structure of the apparatus and may, as stated, take any form desired; The apparatus is also freely portable and may be transported from one claim to another claim as required. It conserves water to a very high degree and consequently is especially useful as hereinbefore described.

It will be seen that a novel mineral separator has been provided by this invention which is easy to operate, which may be efficiently used to effect any desired separation of materials even from low grade claims or from claims in which there is only a small percent of the desired material.

It will be seen further that the device can be easily operated by a single operator and that it conserve water, and that it is rugged and substantially fool-proof.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. A mineral separator comprising a separating chamber adapted to contain a liquid, means for discharging material to be separated into the upper portion of said separating chamber, a first and a second receiving means for respectively receiving material that descends through said separating chamber during a predetermined interval of time and after a predetermined inchamber, means for simultaneously discharging the material into the upper portion of said separating chamber and releasing said timing weight, receiving means for receiving the separated material and the remaining material, and a diverting member adjacent the lower portion of said separating chamber normally arranged to discharge the material into one of said receiving means and automatically moved to discharge material into the other receiving means when said weight has descended to a predetermined point in said timing chamber.

3. A mineral separator comprising a separating chamber and a timing chamber adapted to contain a. liquid, said separating chamber and said timing chamber communicating at their upper and lower portions, a hopper for the reception of material to be separated adjacent the upper end of said separating chamber, a timing weight normally held adjacent the upper end of said timing chamber, means for simultaneously discharging the material into the upper portion of said separating chamber and releasing said timing weight, receiving means for receiving the separated material and the remaining material, and a diverting member adjacent the lower portion of said separating chamber normally arranged to discharge the material into one of said receiving means and automatically moved to discharge material into the other receiving means when said weight has descended to a predetermined point in said timing chamber. 4. A mineral separator comprising a separating chamber and a timing chamber communicating at their upper and lower portions and adapted to contain a liquid, a hopper for the reception of material to be separated located adjacent the upper end of said separating chamber, a timing weight normally held adjacent the upper end of said timing chamber, means for simultaneously discharging the material from said hopper into the upper portion of said separating chamber and releasing said timing weight, a first and a second receiving means located adjacent the lower end of said separating chamber and communicating therewith, a diverting member located adjacent the lower end of said separating chamber and normally positioned to divert the material passing downwardly through said separating chamber into said first receiving means and biased to position to divert the material into said second receiving means, and latch means for holding said diverting member in said first mentioned position, said latch means being located adjacent the lower portion of said timing chamber and being tripped by said weight to release said diverting means when said weight arrives at a predetermined point adjacent the lower end of said timing chamber.

HUGO A. MAU. 

